Stressful Global Upgrade Experiences
 

Apologies for the long post, but something that has never happened to me in all my time flying DL just occurred: I got the gate agent to reverse an upgrade decision -

I recently flew JFK-SEA-PVG this past Tuesday because at the time of booking in December, upgrade inventory was available on the SEA-PVG leg - so I immediately took that and then was supposedly waitlisted on JFK-SEA. JFK-SEA did not clear so the day before the flight I got the Diamond line to make sure it had been coded properly; sure enough it hadn't (something about UP2A or UP3A) so they had to reissue the ticket so I could be top of the upgrade list as a Diamond using GUC. From my check-in up until the 45 minute mark, I refreshed the upgrade list almost every minute and was always listed as #1 for 1 seat available. When I went to the gate agent to ask if she had run the upgrade list, she said yes but that I did not get it. Confused I asked for more info and she said that I was currently #1 but that someone else got the only seat available. Now normally I would have just remained confused and let it go, but these were lie flat seats on a relatively long transcon so I called the Diamond Line to see if I could get any other info. Long story short, after asking them to check on seat 3C (the one seat that had been available), the Diamond Line told me that they didn't understand how I didn't get it as that person had been #26 on the standby list. I literally put the Diamond Line phone call on speaker and had the kind lady helping me out speak to the Redcoat. He was moved to make the swap when apparently he realized that the person who got 3C wasn't even a DM so he knew something must have gone wrong. The gate agent ended up swapping our seats. Since my phone captured the last three letters of the person's last name and first letter of first and since I caught a glimpse of the person's full name from the gate agent's screen when I was at the boarding scan area, I decided to google that person and saw from an SEC filing that someone with the same name worked in finance and had served on the steering and restructuring committee of Delta Air Lines in the past - SHENA or just a DL glitch associated with me having cleared first into comfort+ perhaps???

Thankfully I managed to resolve that situation in my favor, when upon landing in Seattle well rested from the lie flat bed, I handed my passport to the gate agent for docs check when she told me I would likely be downgraded because business was oversold by two. I tried to protest saying that I only flew through Seattle since the upgrade was confirmed at time of booking back on December 1st. She kept saying sorry and asked me to wait for a redcoat to speak with me. When no redcoat appeared and boarding began, I checked the Delta app and saw that my business seat was still showing so I decided to board since I figured my boarding pass was still valid. Sure enough I boarded fine and took my business seat, but nervously waited during the whole boarding process for someone to come to my seat and downgrade me. Luckily that never happened, but again more stress. My question in this scenario is who should be downgraded, and what are my options had they insisted on downgrading me?

Did the app show any D1 seats as still available or any upgrades done at the gate?

The out of order upgrade JFK-SEA likely should be reported, with thanks to the DM agent and GA for sorting it out.

Your options after being downgraded would have been to travel in coach or take a later flight. I imagine you would have gotten a voucher for the downgrade, maybe $200. And likely your GUC would still be gone, having been consumed for JFK-SEA.

David

If I didn't get a GUC added back to my account (I only used it for JFK-SEA because SEA-PVG had already cleared) for a SEA-PVG gate downgrade then I would be beyond furious.

If you board and are at your seat and they try to move you to a different class of service isn't it IDB?

I think it's only IDB if you aren't given ANY seat on the flight.

The app the whole time showed me as #1 for 1 seat available, up until one minute before the gate agent ran the upgrade. Afterwards when I refreshed, the app showed the first three letters of the last name and first letter of the first name as well as the seat 3C plus zone PREM all highlighted in blue as the person who was cleared into First.

I'm sure you are right. I found this article which essentially says that if you get downgraded you are really SOOL and it is up to the carrier to compensate you as they see fit: http://onemileatatime.boardingarea.c...ngrade-rights/

I do wonder what Delta's priority ranking looks like for passengers in first/D1 in case of having to determine who gets downgraded. I wonder if a DM who used a GUC on a rev ticket is higher then a DM or anyone else who booked a first/D1 award ticket - any DL agents here know?

WOW! This story is amazing! Twice <potentially> in the same day! WOW!

I thought they didn't overbook J cabins? :confused:

How many different J seating versions are there on TPAC B763 planes? :confused:

*****Edited to add . . . .

This is of particular interest to me, because, I'm in the process of booking an itinerary that includes SEA/PEK/SEA for April with a GUC.

I commend anybody who can deal with those AWFUL J seats on DL's 767's for an almost 13-hr flight like SEA-PVG. They're barely tolerable on a 6-hr JFK-LAX.

Are there other stories of GUCs D1 tickets being downgraded based on J being oversold? If so we need a separate thread to track what is going on because that threatens all of us who depend on this vehicle for long international flights.

Agreed! Though a part of me wonders if it was just an agent going rogue. Don't they have to ask for volunteers first before they start downgrading people?

Don't you think "AWFUL" (in caps no less) is a bit over the top for the 763? They are certainly not quite as comfortable as the A330 or 777, but they are a far cry from "AWFUL" IMO.

And in ways they are actually better for two people traveling together. Once again, IMO.

There's two layouts with slightly different configurations of J. I believe something like 41 vs 24 J seats. Those could be way off, but the point is there's two different 767 configs, there's no TPAC special model.

IIRC the ones with fewer D1 seats are meant to be used for leisure routes, but sometimes IROPs lead to aircraft switches.

Perhaps the caps were a bit much, but I stand by statement of them being awful. There's a reason they refer to the seats as a "coffin." All a matter of opinion I guess.